Boy, 8, Arrested for 5th Time in 4 Months

Police have repeatedly been called to arrest an 8-year-old boy. Credit: Getty

He grabbed, bit, kicked and pushed teachers. He spit on an adult. He punched out a window with his hands. He threw chairs, sticks and other objects at teachers and students. And, now, he faces his fifth arrest.

The Orlando Sentinel reports the child, who attends Riverside Elementary School in Orlando, Fla., spends most of his time at the school in a unit designed to help students with significant emotional or behavioral problems.

He spends the rest of the time, it seems, with police.

Arrested on March 1 for the fifth time since November, the newspaper reports, the boy spent the next three days in juvenile detention.

His rap sheet would make young Al Capone jealous with charges as aggravated battery, criminal mischief and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

Are these repeated field trips to the hoosegow helping?

Maybe not, school officials tell the Sentinel, but they're necessary to protect others.

The problems allegedly began Nov. 10 when, according to the newspaper, police responded to reports of the boy assaulting a teacher and spitting on a another adult.

"Take me to jail!" he allegedly demanded. Police obliged.

Calls to police are a last resort and are made only when "the student gets so unruly and out of control," Ron Pinnell, a senior school administrator in Orlando, tells the Sentinel. "It's not something they take lightly. You have to think through it."

This might be the end of the line for the boy -- at least at Riverside. His mother, through the Orange County Public Defender's Office, tells the Sentinel her son will not be returning to school.

Some people fault school officials for the way they have handled the situation, the newspaper reports.

Robert Wesley, an Orange County public defender, tells the Sentinel he has taken the case personally because his younger brother has a disability and sometimes lashes out.

"Why aren't we dealing with this more holistically? Why are we dealing with it the way we deal with an adult who has hit somebody or damaged some property?" he asks the newspaper.

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Officer Arrested Twice in the Past Month Will Not Face Criminal ChargesProsecutors said Monday they will not file criminal charges against a San Diego police officer arrested twice in the past month on suspicion of battering his wife. Gilbert Lorenzo, 31, was suspended last month for allegedly battering his wife in La Mesa and was re-arrested last week on suspicion of inflicting corporal injury on his spouse.

ReaderComments (Page 6 of 13)

Megan: What do you expect her to do? She's doing the best that she can. She probably hoped that the court would order psychological treatment or at least an eveluation. However, most of the time the psychologists tell us that the kid has "ADHD" and the only alternative is to medicate them. Most kids use ADHD as a cruch when they don't WANT to learn anything and want to disrupt. I had a kid tell me he couldn't do something he hadn't tried due to ADHD. I put both hands on his desk, looked him in the eye. Then I said "I have ADHD. I have two degrees. I don't disrupt classes and try to hurt people. Your next excuse is?"

Megan: It's easy to stand on the sidelines and point out failures in a parent. But unless you have been there, you will never understand. As you can see, this woman has another child that is completely normal. This points to a mental problem inside the other child. Something that you can't always be controlled with parenting. It's like blaming a parent because their child is autistic.

To kitty: I know it is not always possible, but if you can figure out a way to stay home and home school this child, I think he can be helped. Obviously this depends on how old he is. If he is 15+, it's probably not safe to do so because of their strength. But if he is younger, the constant correction of his outbursts and consequences for his actions will change his behavior.

A swat on the butt can work wonders for major infractions of a child younger than 4 (and the grand majority of those children rarely commit an act that requires a swat). Beyond that, it does no good. Eventually, the childs behavior must be "controlled" through shame/disappointment. I know this sounds like a nazi technique, but it is true. My children are good kids because they do not want to disappoint me. They are VERY loved and treated with respect. As they grow, they start to want to be good for themselves because they look up to their parents and respect them. You can't punish a child until they turn 18 and then hand them the keys and say goodbye. You have to raise children to want to be good for themselves or they will never succeed as adults. If your child is still being punished (whatever type of punishments you use) past the age of 13, it is unlikely that they are going to succeed. They need to know right from wrong for themselves. This doesn't come in adulthood, it starts from the very beginning.

So many people saying the parents are at fault. Or trying to point the finger at someone. There may not be a fault here, just a faulty situation. The schools can only do so much, and often the programs aren't enough for some kids. Some children do have a real disability, and beatings will only breed frustration and more problems (spankings don't stop a behavior, they just ensure your child will get hit). People blaming the parents don't know. My son used to have "rages" from preschool till 5th grade. I didn't hit my son and I didn't spoil my son (not too much anyway). There had always just been something "different" about him. Smart, and more creative than anybody I've ever met, he could get frustrated over nothing (that we could identify) and the rage would begin. I'm really surprised the school never called the police, but he did spend most of his time in their "time out" room. Was I at fault? No, I did everything possible for him. Was his dad? Well, he wasn't the best dad, but he didn't cause it. He was diagnosed with this or that, put on trial medications, and received different therapies. We got on and off the merry-go-round of shrinks trying different diagnoses. I cared, and his brother and I supported him (dad didn't understand and left the picture) emotionally, and he was angel by the time he was in about 6th or 7th grade (took him off all meds about that time except the ones that helped him sleep, and eventually took him off those, too). Not without problems, but the violence was all gone. He's 18 now and a perfect gentleman. It was tough bringing him up, but I'm so very lucky and thankful God gave him (and his brother) to me to raise!

This child has severe emotional problems resulting in his bad behavior. I am sure his parents cannot handle him just as the school cannot and truthfully he belongs in a residential full time facility for disturbed children where he can get the help he needs and if he does not get this treatment soon, pity those who cross his path when he becomes a teenager!

Yes, and what with spending time in a Youth Detention facility, he should be ready for the "big house" in no time. After a stint in one of those barbaric hell holes, if they ever let him out, he'll make Jack the Ripper and Dahmer look like first graders.

STOP BEING POLITICLY CORRECT AND MAKING EXCUSES AND CODDELING DEINQUENTS AND CRIMINALS. THIS KID NEED SOME TOUGH LOVE. AN OLD FASHION BEHIND THE SHED ASS WHOOPING TO GET HIM STAIGHT IT WORKED FOR SO MANY YOUNGENS FOR DECADES BEFORE POLITICAL CORRECTIVNESS EXISTED. PC, IS PROMOTING THE HIGHES AMOUT OF BAD BEHAVEYOUR AND CRIMINALS EVER.

Just what in the hell do you expect when children come to know that they are not accountable to anyone and cannot be disiplined by their paents or anyone else except the Police who can tazer them or put them in jail or shoot them for being bad boys or girls . It's the good old police state, arrest the parents, arrest the kids or kill them when they are out of control. Who in the H cares.

So, now that you've had your son arrested (as a good parent would), he's all better now, right? Problem solved. Oh, wait, you already answered that. But the spanking, that works, right? Oh wait, you already answered that. I guess the harsh disciplinary measures you use with your child don't fix his problems. Thanks for answering that. (You might want to try a different approach.)

Well folks, let me put my two cents in here. I'm 76 years old and when I was in school, we had a different society then. This means we had parents where the father worked, mother stayed home. Kids were taught disipline, manners, respect for elders, and yes we were subject to a good spanking on the butt if we misbehaved. No, we were not "beaten". We might get a belt across our butt if the misbehaving was severe enough. Usually, the spanking was with the hand of Dad when he got homr from work. Did I hate my Dad, no, I loved him and I realized he loved me because he was teaching how to be a respectful child and adult. The main problem with kids today lies with the parents and the Federal Government's "NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND". That plus the ACLU and other so-called "do-gooders" who said you cannot disipline your own child and if you do, you will go to jail. The kids picked this up fast and threaten the parents to call the police if the parent even talks abot punishment. Now kids know they can do just about anything they want and the parents cannot touch them in any way as punishment.Parents are scared of going to jail and have the kids removed from the home and labled as "abused" children. I'm glad I'm not raising kids in this day and age. I'd send a lot of time in jail.

Where do you live, Albert? In a swamp? I'm 75, grew up in the same generation, with the same rules. This is 2011! Wake up! This EIGHT year old CHILD deserves much more than POLICE and being ARRESTED for whatever problems he presents at school or at home. (By the way, who taught you how to spell...at least, I assume you attended school?)

You might like to know, sir, that many states in this country protect the parent's rights to apply corporal punishment within reasonable limits. The state I live in is one of them ... and I assure you, my kids know it. Yet, I rarely resort to it now that they are old enough to understand reasoning.

Anyway, parents are not as scared as you seem to think. Some parents just choose a different way (not saying I am one of them)

You're right. I'm not as old as you are (46) but when I grew up we had respect for our parents. Our parents spanked us when we were bad and deserved it. Kids now days need a stiff board across the butt sometimes. This time out crap is just that...CRAP! But somebody who thought getting spankings as a child hurt their little feelings so when they grew up they convinced others it was abuse. Now you have thousands of out of control kids and all anyone wants to do is medicate them. I spanked my children and will spank my grandchildren. For those who don't like it..too bad.

I am a retired Florida police officer. The problem here is that children with alleged discipline problems can not be suspended, because they have protected status. Parents know this so they do not try to intervene, but think, let the schools deal with it. Put these little monsters in a special school, explain to parents how to properly deliver a good spanking and we would have this problem. I also think is no hyperactivity disorders. When I went to school in the 70's these kids got a boat oar with holes in it across the but by the teacher. We had good kids and the drop out rate was alot lower. We also didn't have kids shooting cops. Wake up people.

Sorry, but as much as we may want it to be, public school is not the best place for every child--particularly when the child is a physical danger to other students, to teachers, and to administrators. No doubt, his disruptions are interfering with the education of the other children, and something needs to be done about it. If he is this out of control at eight, can you imagine how he will be at eighteen? Until something is done, he should be removed and placed in a different environment. Some people object to using the word "monster" in describing this child; but you have to ask yourself: Where do adult monsters come from?

I just have a few questions - why did he just start lashing out the past few months?? When children do that it's usually because they are reacting to something that has happened to them. They said he's in a unit designed for kids with emotional or behavioral problems - did he start going there after the first arrest? He specifically asked to be taken to jail - What child does that unless they are afraid of something else? This article does not give the whole story and if any more information would be posted, that would be great instead of just speculation.

TheTalkies

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